Comparison to whiteinge's diffconflict plugin

[ForgottenUmbrella]

I was trying to figure out how this plugin differs from https://github.com/whiteinge/diffconflicts.
Looking at your first commit 3748a2f, it appears this plugin was originally a straightforward rewrite from Vimscript to Lua. The functions are all named the same, the code layout is the same, and even the strings echoed to the user are the same. But the original BSD licence is nowhere to be found.

I'm no copyright lawyer, but in the spirit of open source, don't you think it'd be good to at least acknowledge the inspiration for this project?

[gorillamoe]

Indeed, it was somehow a straight rewrite (keeping function names and everything in tact as much as possible), but as the function bodies themselves cannot really compared to the OG plugin, I guess this is (even if I hate this term) a "gray area".

According to BSD, if it's "Derivative Works", it has to also be BSD and include the full LICENSE statement of the OG project.

But, I don't want argue, that you're totally right, that this leaves a really bad taste!

The easiest way to settle this without much guess-working, would be to ask the OG plugin author,
if he thinks that this is "Derivative Works" and if so, I'll ofc change the LICENSE!

So, idk if this ping reaches you @whiteinge, but if it does, could you chime in to answer this (if you find time at any point in your life).

Anyway, in the meantime, I'll change the README to reflect that this was a port to lua from the start (even if it has evolved since then), because even if the OG author does not care or thinks it's okay to change terms; it really leaves a bad taste; so your point is totally valid and you have any right to point that out!

Sorry!

[gorillamoe]

I'll keep this open (as long as it's not settled; I only consider this settled, once the OG plugin author chimes in or a lawyer chimes in to educate me).

Whatever comes out of it, the banner will stay in the README, even if we don't have to change terms.

Thanks again for calling this out!

[gorillamoe]

One more thing, so we call it was it is (even though it has since evolved),
because I read you initial text again:

I'm no copyright lawyer, but in the spirit of open source, don't you think it'd be good to at least acknowledge the inspiration for this project?

inspiration is totally wrong here, but I think it's really nice of you to try to be polite,
but the honest truth is:

It started as a blatant rip-off!

The only thing that might save us from having to change the LICENSE is either the author being okay with it, or the fact that we rewrote it in a different language and therefore you might argue that it's still a blatant rip-off, but the source-code at least changed "significantly enough" (whatever that means).

[whiteinge]

Hello @gorillamoe and @ForgottenUmbrella ! I genuinely appreciate the ping and acknowledgement 😄.

Short answer:

I'm not worried about it, like at all. I'm much more invested in wanting people to re-think of merge conflicts as a two-way diff because that pushes the industry forward in what is a (sometimes) slightly-complex and (very) routine problem we all face. This plugin does that and is a net-benefit to the world!

Long answer:

• The acknowledgement in a0ee963 is more than gracious. I'd come at it from the other direction and say it's actively distracting to the goal of this repo and should at least be moved to the bottom.
• It isn't necessary but if you'd like to keep a link as a citation, a tiny one-liner "Port of whiteinge/diffconflicts" bullet point is sufficient. As a frequent browser of GitHub, I often appreciate "related work" citations when I stumble on work that is close to what I'm looking for but want to see more history, context, or alternate approaches.
• IANAL but MIT <-> BSD are nearly interchangeable that I don't think the license change matters here (contrasted with something with different legal implications like GPL or mayyyybe Apache 2).
• This feels like a reimplementation rather than a direct port and so a license change doesn't feel out of place.
• IANAL but my original implementation was just a sed one-liner and the core concept of splitting left and right hunks into separate files could arguably be considered de minimis and not worthy of copyright protection in the first place.

In summary: Awesome project. Keep on keeping on!